As I am entering into what I consider adulthood, I think it is a good idea to expand my knowledge of the arts. By “arts” I don’t just mean Monet or Warhol, I’m including books, films and music as well. I think it is important to look back to the classics and really delve into what makes us…well…us. See what artistic waves we as a culture have ridden thus far; what has brought us to where we are today. This significant rite of passage is why museums and halls of fame even exist. We need to be able to see that which has shaped our past to better understand our future.
With all of that in mind I had to tread off the beaten path a bit to enhance my awareness of the arts and find something I could consider mature and creative at the same time. Oh and something that wouldn’t bore me to tears would be nice. This search led me to a film called, “Koyaanisqatsi” (pronounced: coy-ah-knee-ska-tse) that was made in 1982 and has gained cult film status in the decades since. Koyaanisqatsi is a film without actors, without a script, without any words whatsoever and without an obvious plot of any kind. Sounds fun, right? Well it is just incredible to say the least.
Koyaanisqatsi is a Hopi word meaning “Life out of balance” and the distinctive film styles used aim to show us this imbalance that we have come to suffer from as a society. Using time-lapse photography coupled with slow motion filming we are shown amazingly stark and empty landscapes and then thrust into the hustle of a booming city. The severe differences between space and time; nature and urban landscapes and the machines that keep us going are all set to the incredible music of Phillip Glass, the world renowned composer. This is actually the first in a trilogy of films; the second is “Powaqqatsi” which means “Life in Transition” and the last is called “Naqoyqatsi”, or the Hopi word for “Life as War.”
This movie made me want to slow down and look at my life, something that turning 30 also made me feel the need to do. It showed me how we can get so easily carried away by speed, technology, time, money and “things” and lose sight of what is really going on in the world. That while we rush to work and tap our feet impatiently waiting for our 3 minute meals to cook in the microwave…a whole planet is out there and it is waiting for us to see it before it is too late. I am so delighted to have seen this film and I highly recommend it to anyone out there, thirty or otherwise. Maybe we can all work towards getting our lives in balance together.
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